4. Kory Sheets’ speed was one of the few things that jumps out at you just watching the pawns get moved across the board. He can get to the edges on stretch runs with ease, which makes me think he’d make an excellent Wildcat (the guy who runs the end around…think what Ricky Williams did when Ronnie Brown was the triggerman). But if that was the case why didn’t the Dolphins use Sheets in that role when Brown suffered his foot injury, and the Wildcat was limping on one leg late last season? Sheets needs to find a role on special teams to make the 53-man roster because Patrick Cobbs and Lex Hilliard contribute more to the team right now.

5. The easiest way to tell Davone Bess apart from Ryan Grice-Mullen, his former Hawaii teammate, is by looking at their legs. In the last two seasons Bess has developed tree trunks for calves. RGM’s calves look like little sticks. But honestly speaking, if your eye site isn’t good enough to see their numbers (15 for Bess and 17 for RGM) or RGM’s blonde tips on his dreads, it would be impossible to tell them apart on the field. They look and move just alike.

6. The interior of the offensive line is constantly churning.One practice John Jerry, Jake Grove and Richie Incognito are paired together, working as the starters. The next session Jerry, Incognito and Grove are backups while Cory Procter, Joe Berger and Donald Thomas are working with the first team. It’s anyone’s guess who earns the starting spots, but the competition is good for the team.

7. It appears Charlie Anderson is the one outside linebacker who should be considered a front runner (if not lock) to serve as one of the two starters. He’s the only player who has consistently worked with first-team defense in every practice the media has witnessed. Anderson has made plays in spurts the past two seasons. The Dolphins are wondering if he can do it on a regular basis.

8. Cameron Wake still hasn’t convinced a new defensive coaching staff that he can be more than a pass rushing specialist who subs in. He’s unstoppable rushing from the left side of the offensive line because of his unbelievable ability to get low and bend his body towards the quarterback. But the right side rushing hasn’t been so impressive. But Wake still has time to start making a move because pads aren’t on yet. Training camp is when he made a move up the depth chart last year.

10. Should the Dolphins be concerned that undrafted Nevada strong safety Jonathan Amaya has made more plays on the ball than Reshad Jones, the team’s fifth-round pick, who is competing for the starting free safety spot? All I saw from Jones during minicamp was a quick first step, and decent run support skills.

11. Exactly what you saw in the Pittsburgh loss from Tyler Thigpen is what he’s shown his teammates and coaches since he’s been a Dolphins. He has all the tools to be a winning quarterback. Athleticism, an arm, can throw accurate touch passes. His knack for improvising is a gift, something that usually can’t be taught. But it also gets him into trouble on the field, which explains his uneven play.

13. What the heck happened to Donald Thomas? In one offseason he’s gone from a promising gem of a sixth-round pick, an opening season starter the past two years, into the underdog to hold one of the starting guard spots? What prompted this drop off?

15. Will Allen isn’t ready to challenge Vontae Davis and Sean Smith for the starting cornerback spot just yet. I’ve watched Allen dominate minicamps and training camps for three years, going back to the Cam Cameron era, and in the few instances he got into the mix during the weekend Allen looked ordinary. Say what you want about a healthy Will Allen, but labeling him ordinary would normally be a slap in the face. He’s better than that, so I assume his ACL tear isn’t fully healed. But I also don’t see anyone else capable of serving as the nickel cornerback.

Again I ask, is this not an OTA in May that the media can see? Why would they show anything of value to the media? The media posts every time a guy moves on twitter,etc. Makes no sense for them to show anything. I will be more concerned come August when starting lineups are clearer, etc. Way too much is made of OTA’s. This is when you try different things. Frustrating.

Nolan track record is as an aggressive blitzer that dictates pace don’t forget who got to run Baltimore def after Marvin Lewis left it was Nolan not Rex Ryan I’m not concerned at all it’ll be interesting to see what unfolds between wake an Anderson

It is really too soon to say what kind of Defense we will have. Nolan is a good DC and the past guys were no slouches either it’s just that Saban decimated our Secondary leaving no one to stop the big play.

In order to practice an attacking or “Offensive” defense you really have to have pads on.
These OTAs are more for teaching the new system and their assignments to the players. I don’t even expect to see the real defense until halfway through the season.
The key here is that we just need the secondary to hold the line more. If they had done it last year we likely would have been in the playoffs.

Wooa, Omar, yeah of little faith “What will make Nolan’s unit any different?”

I do believe Nolan has a better track record than Capers or Paul P at designing “attacking” D’s.

The personnel on this team may not be all that different from 2009, but the DC matters. And don’t undersetimate the impact that Dansby will have on the D, and improved CB’s. And don’t forget about Misi’s impact. He will definitely be an upgrade at OLB since the bar is not that high, replacing Porter, who was just plain poor in run support and pass coverage. Misi WILL be an upgrade. He might just be more than that! As a rookie! We’ll see.

And Odrick is the sleeper, under the radar. May i remind that he was rated the #3 D lineman in the draft, after Suh and McCoy? An impact player? Who knows? But an upgrade over Merling? Yes.

Whoaaaa there MJZ Nolan may have a better track record than coach P, but I’d out up Caper’s track record against anyone. Don’t be such a homer and look at the defenses Capers has coached. Everywhere he’s gone he’s had success. Also look up Nolan’s record with the 49ers and how badly they played on defense.

My biggest fear is that Pennington will have some input on the offensive plays and will continue the check-down scenario, because that’s his limitation and so it is what he does best. Hopefully he is the good guy we all believe him to be and play to Henne’s strengths when the time comes.

Why does everyone bash Pennington? He had Miami’s 2nd best season ever by a QB and took them to the playoffs after a very long drought! I have never seen a better team player and part-time coach. Next to Marino he is probably my favorite all-time dolphins QB (and Bob Griese). And I have been a fan of the Dolphins for 40 years! I do not care if he can throw the ball 80 yards down the field! Neither could Joe Montana! He just wins!

teams not only attacked joey porter with their running game, they attacked JT as well. porters six out of the nine sacks were inconsequential (trash sacks) and he couldn’t stop a running play! he actually stopped seven running plays the whole season. JT, on the other hand, couldn’t cover anyone out of the backfield or the TE, he was simply too slow.

Our team now has a much improved depth chart. It’s been over a decade since we had any semblance of depth on our team!

I agree Ocala Bob, the trifecta’s doing an outstanding job of building a team from the inside out, and consistently upgrading the back-end; not just picking up retreads like the Not Yets. That includes the coaching staff, both Nolan and Sheridan are an upgrade to our team. This is only the beginning of the 3rd year in the process and it looks absolutely great.

I agree totally with Ocala Bob, that the trifecta’s doing an outstanding job of building a team from the inside out, and consistently upgrading the back-end!
Exactly! That’s how the trifecta successfully builds winning franchises! Bill Belicheat is a Parcel’s clone, not vice versa!

Well obviously these OTAs and minicamps are not worthless or no one would do them. They have to be somewhat of an expense in both money and in losing some guys to injuries, even though it seems like there’s not much hitting. i think Nate Garner was hurt here and had to have surgery and is out till Training Camp.

So if there is a risk and an expense, the league must figure these practices are worth something.

According to Sparano’s own interviews, he says he gets to see who can learn the playbook, especially with all the new FAs, trades, and draftees.

He also said he can tell who has a nose for the ball in the secondary (Amaya) and who seems lost, who can field kicks, and who has a good work ethic, study habits, and film IQ.

Sparano said they have film that shows Jerry can move people and Reshad and Amaya are hard hitters, and Misi and Odrick are known tough guys, so these practices are more to see and teach footwork and technique and assignments in the various packages.

Practice, Practice were are taking about Practice !!! ok C Wake we now what he can do, they need to try out the other guys to see what they can do, and this is was this camps are for. The are just a few set positions on the team QB, 1 starting wide receiver and so on.. if I remember Capers made JT deff player of the year and our deff was rank top 5 ? so I would take that any time, were just hopping that Nolan improves over last year like he did in Den, my only concern is that a lot of our linebacker are new and were are counting on them to improve our unit from last year that was not that good… our offense was good last year when Ronnie and Cobs were still around with the addition of Marshall and the subtraction of Ginn, we should take the next step, score lots and be able to control the ball at the same time.. ohh well is just practice every team feels good about them self and the Jets are just planning the victory parade.. let the season start …. as I look at our schedule if we get to December with a decent record it will get very interesting

I agree with Rainbird, who makes a very sound observation. I like Thomas and hope he does well, stays healthy and improves his pass blocking.

I wish for all of the players to reach their potential. If they cannot, however, then space must be made for those who can. I see Thomas as a second string depth-type player…definitely an asset when viewed in this way.

Donald Thomas is what he is…a powerful kid who struggles when he’s asked to do anything but push a defender backwards.

He never should’ve been a starter, but they chose to throw him in there his rookie year b/c we had nobody else. It gave people a false impression of his skill level. He was not an NFL caliber starter.

He works cheap and might still develop. The problem is they brought in some players who are already more advanced in their technique. Tsou, Garner, Incognito, Berger(yes, he can play guard) and even Jerry are better than Thomas already.

Randy, you don’t think the kid even has a learning curve? I think he has potential with good coaching, because like you said, he is very powerful. I’ll always remember his first year, all the Dolphin D-line guys saying how “heavy” Thomas was, and how hard he was to move. I think the biggest problem with Thomas is he hasn’t been able to saty on the field long enough to get experience. He got injured in the second game of the season his rookie year, last year he had the torn pec, which put him behind, both experience wise and strength wise, and now it’s his 3rd year. I’m hoping they can coach him up to the point where he is no longer a liability in pass protection, and still has the run blocking equal or better than any other G on our roster. Randy, do you think it’s possible, or am I asking too much here?

I think Nolan will do great. Im sure he will adjust to offenses faster than Pasq seemed to. Our D last year was so basic that teams really didnt have to adjust much from week to week. Even if injuries did cause a lot of problems for Pasq, I still think Nolan is a better teacher and motivator.

I also wonder what happened to Thomas but Im glad the Oline is deep enough that they can compete. I hope Anderson begins to flash because Im still a little worried about that unit. Thigpen reminds me too much of Romo but he probably could do some damage in the right set. Pat needs a lot more time and really needs to find Penny whenever he can.

I think Thomas can of course become better but Im really liking Garner. That guy seemed to really improve last year. I havent seen enough of Jerry to form a solid opinion(didnt really watch him in college). Randy, what do you think about who is our best guard combo this year if healthy?

Tge most encouraging thing bout Nolan last yr in Denver was he had a patch job d line(hence all den d line signings) an he still fielded a top 10 def which was flat out dominate first half of yr holding teams round 12 points a game dis yr he inherits a defense where the d line is a strength an we all can agree a great defense has to be stout up front an we defitnately are so dis should b an awesome aggressive unit an hopefully crowder gets traded he is like da Ted ginn of da def meaning he shouldn’t b kept because dansby will make him look good I rather see edds or dobbins start crowder has had to much time to produce I mean he was drafted the first yr saban was here which seems like forever.

And anyplayer that admits to not being a big fan of tge filmroom after playing with Zachary Thomas obviously is a waste of space

Owl brings up the most troubling thing of all to me and that is our schedule. We saw what a killer schedule did to us last year.

If we had had even a medium schedule last year, we would’ve been 10-6 which should’ve been enough for the play-offs, or a tie-breaker type miss.

This year we have a deceptively killer schedule. It’s bad enough based on last year’s records, but several of the lesser teams have made significant progress.

The Bears and Lions will not be easy, but they are 2 games we MUST win. I think we can only hope for a split with GB and Minn, because both are AWAY games that we could easily lose.

Plus we must play Baltimore and the Bengals up there, a very difficult split to get. I am hoping we are better than the Browns and Steelers (without Ben), but that is hope.

If we get those splits and wins, we’ll be 6-2; if we get swept in the road games and split with the teams we are “supposed to beat,” we could be 2-6 in those games against the 2 North Divisions.

Obviously, many experts think the Jets and Patsies will sweep us, so we have to hope for home-and-away splits. If we sweep Buffalo, which we failed to do last year, then that’s 4-2 in our Division.

I went to Clemson; trust me Spiller can score on any play against any D.

If the experts are right, then, we are 1-5 in our Division, especially since the away games against NE and NJ are up North in December and January. Buffalo even gets a break from the heat by playing us up there to open the season and coming to Florida in the cool of December.

Add that all up, and we are legitimately anywhere from 10-4 to 3-9.

Our two opponents from finishing in 3rd place last year in our divisions are @ Oakland and home against Tennessee. Oakland could be the worst team we play all year ORRRR a vastly improved and dangerous upset machine for everybody on their schedule. The Titans beat us last year. It’s impossible to tell whether we will sweep, split, or drop these two games.

Best case scenario, we could be 14-2; worst case, 3-13. And that is in all honesty. When I did this same breakdown last year, I predicted we could go from 12-4 to 7-9. (I predicted a sweep of the Bills and a split with the Jets, but otherwise I was right on it, although what we did last year was my worst case scenario.)

Last year, we lost every game I thought was a toss-up, except for the NJ games. That could happen to us again.

This schedule is very difficult. We need to start fast, or we could go 5-11 without even catching any bad luck.

We could also win the Division at 9-7, since the schedules for NE and NJ are just as hard as ours. They also must play both North Divisions.

The Jets must play Houston and Denver which is worse than the Titans and Raiders, but they have a little softer home-away breakdown.

The Patriots must play the Chargers and Colts, which is definitely tougher than our two, but again, the league has given the Patriots a favorable home-away schedule.

What are you guys predicting for a W-L record? Will we make the play-offs?

on what do you base such an insane pair of predictions? I strongly disagree. We have Camarillo, so we cannot possibly go winless, as he proved in 07.

That is a fact, so you are wrong there.

Plus we play Sanchez twice, need I say more?

As far as going undefeated, there has been only ONE such team in the entire history of the league. NO OTHER TEAM HAS EVER gone undefeated.

The likelihood of the SAME team winning all their games again is tiny, although I admit it is more possible that the Dolphins will win them all than either the Patsies or NJ.

I think we WILL go undefeated …

… if Ronnie and Ricky and the Beast all go over 1000 yds and Henne throws for 4000 and Pat completes a pass and Dansby and Edds and Sean Smith all have at least one INT and Vontae has 6 and Rex stays fat, all of which actually could happen.

Would the defense have looked much different at this point? How much of it have they actually installed… I thought they were only like half way there… Considering Pasq ran so many base defense plays. I’d think the base stuff would be the first to go in.

The only ones having a problem with the bess 15 is the media. Why dont you guys come out and say we want you to sell it to marshall? He said it wasnt for sell, I havnt heard anything from marshall other than it doesnt matter he where whatever. Keep stirring the pot and maybe we’ll have a controversy

it’s weird that you are saying pat white’s accuracy hasn’t improved when armundo(the pat white hater) has said he hit nearly 70% in this mini camp, has gone though his progressions well and looks more confident. i don’t think armundo has EVER said one nice thing about white till now.

i do think if pennington is back to 100%, bonus pay out or not, either he or thigpen will be traded during the preseason. some one out there will need a QB and both these guys have starting experience. they will fetch as high as a 4th if a team is in real need and we will still have a solid #2 and can groom pat white for another season while still having an improved “wildpat”

Based on comments during the minicamp from Omar… I don’t think many of those completions from Pat were down field. Made some comments about him throwing a lot of checkdown passes, with Thigpen being the only one regularly throwing down field.

The ‘WildPat’ hurts the rhythym of the offense as they found out last year, AND it again would put the team in a position of having the solid backup unable to enter the game. If they make that mistake again, they are fools.

Actually, I like Incognito and Jerry. I thought Garner would be their choice before the injury. Jerry was a very good pick. I would rather see him playing on the right side, but it looks like they’ve locked Incognito in there, i guess.

They say they saw Jerry prove he has what it takes to play LG at the senior bowl. I didn’t really see that in his play, but I’d like to see how he moves once he gets in shape. He needs to work on his conditioning from what I saw of him. If he does, maybe he’ll be a little quicker on his feet and be able to get down the line.

It’s exactly what Long is doing. He knows he needs to be lighter and quicker, so he’s dropping body fat to get more mobile. Long has really impressed me with his attention to detail in what he needs to do to get better. But, he it’s very nice to have a pretty athletic guy next to him to help on the double and inside moves guys put on Long.

Thomas could certainly continue to develop…no doubt, but he’s a RG and that’s pretty much it. I’m not sure if it’s just his lack of quick feet or an inability to recognize defenses and who’s coming from where. It looked like both last year.

Does he need to get better at recognizing defenses and from where pressure is coming, quicker or both? probably both.

It’s not that big a deal to me b/c we have several better options at guard right now anyway. They have time to develop him if they can afford to keep him.

So Randy, just to clarify, you think the Dolphins should stash Thomas on the practice squad? I think someone will grab him quickly, if we do. I don’t know much about Tsoumpas, but I think Thomas has shown enough to be the primary backup at RG, which if you believe Incognito to be the starter at RG, and either Garner or Jerry at LG, Long at LT, with either Gardner, Hartline or Murtha as backup, and then Carey at RT, with either Murtha or hartline as backup there. If healthy, Grove at center, with Berger as backup. That’s how I see it happening, agree? Disagree?

So long as we don’t overpay for him and he’s fully recovered, count me in on the OJ Atogwe sweepstakes. THAT’S how important it is that we get a BALL-HAWK back there in this pass-happy league known as the NFL.

I keep going back and forth on this as well, Me. One day I think we’re going to get Atogwe, the next day I think there is no way. But one thing is for sure: the highest bidder will win. If we can land him for a “reasonable” (note the quotes!) price, I say pull the trigger.

Hey M13, Happy Memorial Day to you as well! Thanks for the info re: Donald Thomas practice squad ineligibility. I’m going to have to say he stays on the roster, that being the case. Naples, good point with Nate Garner’s injury. I overlooked that. I also agree that Garner’s flexibility (if healthy), may allow us too plug him in at one position, let’s say LG, but move him to RT, if Carey were injured, and move Jerry to LG. If Garner is healthy, he could save us a roster spot on the O-line, as does Berger, and Procter, who can play C and G. It should be interesting how it shakes out.

M13, overpay is the key word there. I’m not sure where we set the bar on that, but my guess is $4M per year., or possibly $5M if they don’t have to give a lot of guaranteed money, which seems unlikely. I also doubt an incentive laden deal could be reached as he may have a lot of suitors.

I don’t think PWhite is eligible either. see below
PTurner, maybe, but I am gettin bored with him not producing.

NFL Practice Squad Eligibility

According to league policy, only certain types of players are allowed to sign to the practice squad.

Players cannot have played in more than nine regular season games or been on the active roster for an entire year, nor can players be allowed to spend more than two seasons on the same team’s squad unless that team’s active roster never dips below 53 players.

1. Can’t help but think I’ve heard this “we’ll make offenses adjust to us” song and dance new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan is preaching before. Dom Capers said it. Paul Pasqualoni said it, and both ended up playing follow the offense. What will make Nolan’s unit any different? It certainly looked like the exact same defense I saw last season, maybe with a little bit more inside linebacker blitzing.
2. Tempered expectations are a good thing. Chris Clemons impressed me a lot on Friday because I expected little from the team’s present free safety starter. Then he disappeared the rest of the weekend, which has me on the fence about whether the Dolphins should pursue O.J. Atogwe or not.
3. Chad Henne’s checkdown specials left me longing for more because I expected the team’s starting quarterback to be rifling the ball down the field, like he promised. But considering he needs to work on his touch passes maybe throwing to the tailback on a regular basis isn’t a bad idea.

What you are going to have to understand is that Nolan is not very bright. Do a search for his last two or three months with the 49ers on SFGate if you doubt me. He is one of the three big questions. The other two are whether a guy who doesn’t know how to wear a baseball cap knows how to be an NFL quarterback, and whether Marshal will end up in jail for domestic abuse and battery before the season starts.

Dr. Love, when it comes it to Clemons, I don’t think you can put to much onto any one workout, either the good (Friday), or the bad (Sat & Sun). He is absolutely a work in progress, and we may not know until training camp, or more likely pre season football to know where he’s at. If we don’t sign Otogwe, which i personally don’t think we will, I think if Clemons isn’t far enough along by the end of the pre season, the un-sexy, yet fairly reliable Culver eill likely start.

As I stated in the old blog this morning; Now its been stirring in me all day and im really displeased.
Its the O-line, Sparano is an O-line guru right, but for the past two seasons we havent been able to keep the same five guys on the field for more than a few games at a time. And dont give me none of that this guy has this upside an this guy has another. This year we have like 12 interior linemen and nobody can figure where they are best suited. Weve got one guy who started the last two seasons but is barely practice squad material, so how good can he be. Then we have another who is one hit to the head away from a season long suspension or at least 1 or 2 fifteen yard penalties per game. A center that is in as bad of shape as Smiley was and the rest of the guys who have been pretty much career backups or a rookie. Long and Carey are the only ones who are solidified and even Carey scares me. During the second half of last season it seemed like every time we had a play for a loss or holding even false start it was his number that was called…
Thats just my opinion and I am very worried about this…
GO PHINS!!!

You have to love what the Phins are doing by stacking all of this depth on both lines. You NEVER have enough quality linemen. Give Thomas a break, I think the guy has great potential, he just hasn’t played enough football. He played late in high school and at U Conn and missed his entire rookie year here and a lot of time last year with the torn pec. He just needs time. His physical attributes are outstanding and to give up on him now would be insane. He is, at worse, a high quality backup who is strong in the run blocking game. If he gets his pass protection down he could really be an outstanding NFL player. We need to keep him. But looking at the whole picture, you have to love the size, quality and depth of our OL, I can’t think of another team that is as well stocked as we are.

well stocked, yes… And out of this bunch im sure we have three guys to start the season. Im just worried about everything when it comes to LG, C, and RG… Quality bakups are always great to have but do we have those 3 guys that get everything right and will still be there come week 17 not counting serious injury…
GO PHINS!!!

Yeah Rob, but in those two short years we have never been able to keep the same 5 guys on the field for more than a few games at a time…
We can just keep going through this forever and we’ll never have a line that has fully gelled…
GO PHINS!!!

Im with Carlito on Atogwe; Instead of paying out the Arse for an aging guy that we dont even know will fit in the 3-4 Let us see one of our own youngsters step up and become the next Pollamallu…
One season with the young guys is not gonna kill us, and if they dont have it, then next season we pursue the best FS available in FA or the draft…
GO PHINS!!!

Howie I know what you mean, but I think 2 things
1) in the rebuilding stages after a disastrous regime, you are gonna get lots of turnover as the new FO tries to find quality that we can get from wherever, and if they are serious about building a winning team, they will keep picking up parts and casting off those who are not as good until they get top caliber at all 5 spots (or the whole team really).

We have gone from having no reliable blockers in the 1-15 year besides Carey, through Alleman and Ndukwe, Murphy and Smiley, Thomas and Garner to now we have Incognito and Jerry with former starters as high quality backups. And that is just at OG. Not to mention Long at OT.

Without going through all the typing, the FO has done the same building process at every position.

One last example, when they came in, they brought in Torbor and Ayodele. They were a stopgap measure, but they were better than what we had, and we had to start somewhere. Now they are expendable as we have superior talent.

2) Injuries in today’s NFL are so common that it will be almost impossible to have “the same 5″ together for years at a time. There is no position like that anymore. This is true in baseball and basketball as well. Teams nowadays are in a constant state of flux.

I think to much is being said about the number 15 jersey. While Brandon is a great receiver, he is coming to the dolphins to begin the next leg of his career. Personally id like the bold number 88 be printed on his chest. Nice target for Chad to zero in on. I also see Brandon taking on a leadership role with the other receivers and will lead by example thru sacrafice and hard work on and off the field. Would be surprised with the tutoring he will give ALL the other receivers.

To Brandon’s credit, I believe he understands why Devone whats to keep the number. An undrafted player who busted him hump to get to the point he is now. That number represents his survival, preserverance, tenancy and growth in the NFL. A sign to those he works with (kids programs) that anyone with drive and reach there dreams.

OK O-Howie, we are even now. 26-26 Mets/Marlins
Only 110 more games to go!!! SD had their bats working today!
Scored 16 runs on the Mets.

Anyway, I sometime read the Herald, because it’s on the same IPhone App as SS. Armando let us know how the Jet Fans are bothering him. So he left the jetblog page to stick up for te Phins.
So, today I pulled a JET FAN on them.
Ripping them a new one in name of us PhinFans!!!!
Their Blog keeps erasing our posts???
With no bad language!!!
I was stating the STATs and they even took that post off the page!!!
It was like any bad talk of the Jets was removed from the blog!!!!

And here on SS, they dint give a crap!!!!
You can almost say anything on here and it will stay posted.
(except foul language and such)

How can they erase those posts???

What happened to freedom of speech!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I got a few good shots in there.

And I say YES to Atogwe.
How can having a veteran Ball-Hawk FS be a bad thing for my Dolphins??
I’ll tell you one thing, Id feel a heck of alot better with BELL and ATOGWE in our secondary!!!! And it’s not like he’s too old. He’s like 28, which is prime, since it take CBs and Safeties the longest to adjust from college to the NFL.
28-33 is prime for the all secondary positions!!!
Just look at Sharper who’s way up their and still pulling down 9-10 ints a season!!!

I say, PULL THE TRIGGER ON ATOGWE!!!!
Nolan
Dansby
Marshall
Atogwe???

Sounds fregging good to me!!!
Plus they just freed up around 19 million with getting rid of Smiley(13mil) and Torbor(6mil)

The FO atleast has to consider signing him.
It will all come down to the Benjimans!!!!

I doubt we will land Atogwe.
Cowboys and Bears will probably be the front runners.

Plus they just spent almost 100 million bucks in contracts with Karlos Dansby and Brandon Marshall. With hopefully a capped year coming in the 2011 season, I just can’t see them spending that kind of money.

But, he would improve our secondary.
Hopefully one of these youngsters can step up.
It just might be a long season with this new and improved Pass-Happy league.
A good secondary is a MUST!!!!

First off just wanna say I am as excited about the possibilities this season and the future as I’ve been in my adult life(post marino era).

Henne gets the chance to prove he is what we all want him to be, and the awsome addition of Marshall to our core group of Bess, Camarillo, Hartline, give CHenne the chance to blossom into number 13’s true heir.
I can’t wait to see him launch one 60 yards in the air hitting Marshall in stride as he pulls away from the cb to snag it as he’s crossing the goal line…. Or watch The Beast 1 hand a little 10 yard slant, stiff arm his defender, make a move on the next 2 and break away downfield.
(I watched Denver every time I saw them on last year just to watch him play, he’s so exciting to watch, we’ll prob end up w. more games on just thanks to him, and our other improvements)… I live in TN, so dont get to watch evry phins game.. oilers/titans shoulda stayed in texas.

I think Ronnie should be 100 by opening day and ricky still running strong in the best shape of his life, and sharin duties with Ronnie, he may have another 3 strong years in him. Jake Long is a year older/stronger/better, other O line improvments: the giant Jerry, Incognito, among others, Our great stable of RB’s stand to have a great season, esp w. Marshall keeping 8 out of the box, and being the big strong run support reciever he can be.
The O line will gell, in all its forms,
even if it stays fluid.
Jake Long has been to 2 pro bowls in 2 years,
Jerry has incredible potential,
Incognito seems to be a proven player.
and all the competition on the line,
Will bring the best out of them all,
and we’ll end up w. the creme of the crop starting.
w. the ability to fill for in an injury in many diff ways.

The Dfinse has many new faces, and many who’ll need to step up. But the second year corner’s could make significant progress if they put in the time, both have ability and Smith’s size is a necassity in our division. Bell’s leadership, and lead by example will hopefully give an anchor point to the young def backfield.

Dansby’s addition a Mike line backer, smart, quick, competent in all facets of his position, and maybe he’ll teach Channing Crowder how to be an NFL linebacker.
And if Charlie Anderson can do what he did in spurts all the time this year, getting the chance to play every down, there’s no telling how good he could be if he stays healthy

And maybe its just me, but something about Oddrick and Misi kinda remind me of a couple young late round nobodies from the late mid 90’s, that lankey DE from Akron, and that Fred Flinstone lookin guy from texas who was way to small to be an NFL middle like backer. Who were they?..
Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor.
Now granted I have no true basis for that comparison,
just call it a hunch, a bit o intuition, but I think it feels good.

I think Mike Nolan as the new DC is almost as important
as Marshall’s addition. Forget his Head job in SF.
All in all, he’s a proven commoditty as a Def Cord.
He did wonders w. Denver’s D last year, and with the exception of their secondary, I think we def have superior D personal. But our young secondary has potential.
Nolan’s schemes, his reputation and teaching ability stands to vastly improve our Defensive side of the ball.
And I can all but promise you that Mike Nolan will
use and scheme to Cam Wake’s strengths and
turn him into a(nother) Beast.
Right now if I had to guess, I’d say he’ll have…err…
at least 9, or more likely around 12 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles.

I’m curious to see how Starks transitions to nose, as important as the position is, I hope he’s as effective as we need him to be. Thats still kinda up in the air
(of course, it is just June 1st)

I understand that there are still quite a few questions we wont know the answers to for months, and most of those are defensive issues. But that undrafted Amaya(?) could turn out to be our answer at FS. He seems to have a ball hawking ability from what I’ve heard. And will the youngsters put in the time to fully understand the complex schemes, and will they have the leaders to make sure they do, and make sure they all communicate on the field. Of course there’s always the potential for any number of injuries on either side of the ball.

Just replace Ginn w. Marshall and put Dansby in for porter and think how last year could’ve been so diff? So many so close games, we had Nawlens beat, we had indy beat, so many good teams, so many close games that couldve ended diff.
Now,not really, but in a way I hate to see Ginn go cause he was a Jet killer, but I’m exstatic for having Marshall… and its gonna hurt to see Taylor in that nasty green, but the additions outweigh the losses 100 fold. The loss of JT is just sentimental, and b/c he went to the damn jets.

I dont wanna wish away the summer, but I can not wait for the start of football season. I wanna change my cable package just to get direct tv and their nfl package so I can watch all their games.

And just think this is only the third year of our ‘rebuilding’ under the Parcells/Sparano regime. And obviously Ross is the kind of owner fans want who will spend money to bring in pieces like Marshall and Dansby.
We have a ton of incredible young talent at many positions,
with a team mindset, not just a collection of individuals.

I say bring on the Pats!
Bring on the Jets!
Bring on the season,
Cause the Dolphins are gonna be bringing it from everywhere!

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone
the sun came out today!
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.
A-roundin’ third, and headed for home,
another homer against the mets
no met can understand the way I feel.

On the list of “rookies likely to become immediate starters” the name Jared Odrick, was conspicuous by its absence, especially considering his competition just got arrested for a horrendous domestic abuse case that will very likely get him suspended.

Advertisement

About the author

OMAR KELLY was unsuccessful at achieving his childhood dream to become a super hero, so he figured he'd do the next best thing and become a journalist who fights against injustice, and searches for truth. After being bored to death reporting news and covering politics, he switched to sports.
More

IZZY GOULD joined the Sun Sentinel in Feb. 2012 as a Senior Sports Reporter on the Miami Dolphins beat. He came to South Florida fresh off covering the University of Alabama football program, including its 2011 national championship team. More